I’ve had one helluva productive weekend. All my clothing is put away! The apartment is starting to be livable! I have boxes of books stacked up where a bookcase will go, once I get one, and I believe–I believe–that I can get a cushy chair to complete my living room, the first time I’ve had a living room that could accomodate this.

But enough about the unpacking. Let’s dazzle you all with an FO.

Naturally, I finished them and there is zero daylight left–curses to the changing of the clocks–so these shots were taken in the apartment, and the color is absolutely wrong. These socks originally began as something totally different, and I took those with me down the shore, so you can see a shot here. Or in the skein, back from when I bought the yarn, here. Crazy different, huh? Even sitting with the socks on my lap here, they hardly look their vibrant selves.

Speedy SocksPattern: None; went toe-up. Used the Magic Caston, a short-row heel, and a picot bindoff.Stitch Pattern: Technically this is the wrong side of Shadow Rib, from Barbara WalkerYarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, turquoiseSkeins: 1Needles: KnitPicks circs in what must be 2.5 mm. I guess that’s US 2? My needle gauge doesn’t have a slot for this size–it’s between 1 and 2. I worked one sock past the heel, put the stitches on a holder, then knit the second sock to the same point. Then I magic looped them together, so I could ensure they would be identical.Size: Who knows. I can’t find the little piece of paper where I jotted down the needed size, but I recall being told that the recipient’s feet are small but wide. So while I can put them on, they are very stretched out to do so, and, well, I’m just hoping they fit. I went with the standard 60 stitches around, but made them short in length.Started: Thursday, October 26 (late)Finished: Sunday, October 29 (early evening)Notes: I started these on Thursday night just to have some simple knitting for the bus ride to and from work. The socks were just a bit too simple and fast, though, because I finished them so quickly! I now don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow morning on the ride in, but I guess I’ll find something else to start tonight.

These are another gift for one of the women in the boy’s family–one of his sisters. The stitch pattern was so straightforward and not particularly feminine that I tried to offset it with a picot bindoff. I’d never done a picot bindoff on socks before, and to be honest, I do not like it. I’ve never liked it from an aesthetic standpoint, but I really hated executing it. It was so tedious.

Still, I think the edging works for these socks, for this recipient, and I’m overall quite pleased. I wanted to eke out a single pair out of one skein of yarn, and I did. They’re kind of between ankle socks and normal socks, but that just adds to their cuteness.

Check out the other side, which is very cool looking, but didn’t seem right for socks.

I managed to complete two pairs of socks for Socktoberfest! That’s better than I manged in the entire Summer of Socks. And I used a new technique, and I crossed another gift off my list, and I used up some more of the stash–hurray for me!

13 Responses to taking care of business

I tried a picot bind off on the pair of stockinette socks I finished (tonight- yay!) and found it extremely tight! I had to rip it out and go ahead and do a 1×1 rib with a sewn bind off. I have, ahem, ample calves, so it might just be me. How do you picot bind off? I did the k2tog, YO for one round, then knit 3 rounds in stockinette, then bound off the whole thing by folding it over, picking up a purl bump from the inside of the sock and K2 tog, then bind off a stitch.

Hi, I’m makenzie, i found your blog through the sunrise jacket KAL- I just had a question- i was thinking about making a Union Square pullover and i saw that you made one. Did you like the yarn? I just wanted to know if it turned out ok or if i should just make another SCJ again. anways, love your knitting… cute socks!

Wow! Seriously fast knit! They look great. And I’m with you on the time change. I had to do pictures in the park on my break from work on Friday just to get some daylight and now it’s going to be even worse. :-P

Nice job, speedy! They look great. And I hear you ont he dark thing–I actually got up early this AM to take some FO shots before I left for work, because it’ll be pitch black before I get home today.

As for the washed out color, I’ve found that the “adjust” feature of iPhoto is actually pretty decent at color-correcting. Have you tinkered with it? Sometimes things are beyond saving–particularly with non-natural light–but it’s worth a try anyway.